Muscle deficiencies due to a host of congenital or acquired conditions, including, but not limited to, surgery, inflammation, traumatic injury, and disease, can lead to the irrecoverable loss of muscle function. For those who suffer from such defects, there are currently few clinical treatments available.
Cell-based approaches have been studied to regenerate or re-create muscle tissues such as skeletal muscle de novo with the use of materials (e.g., polymers or natural scaffolds) to support the attachment, growth, and/or proliferation of cells that have some of the characteristics of native skeletal muscle. However, and particularly in cases where the magnitude of the injury or disease significantly exceeds the regenerative capacity of the remaining viable tissue (e.g., volumetric muscle loss resulting from traumatic injury), better therapeutic solutions are needed to create functional muscle tissue.